The ECOS Staff has chosen The Mitten Problem for our action research. The problem has us using two thermometers, one placed inside a mitten and one placed on the table next to the mitten. Three questions are asked, 1) Will the thermometer on the table decrease, 2) Will the thermometer in the mitten increase? or 3) Will the temperatures stay the same. We have collected pre -tests from several schools including STEM, Forest Park and Chestnut. I'd say about 97% have predicted that the mitten temp. will increase. We have tried to combat this idea by allowing students to read the thermometers and prove that the temp. will stay the same. Unfortuanately, we have had some issues with maintaing the room temp. and both Burt and I ended up with data supporting the misconception! Nothing that a retest in a confined space didin't take care of . We have also allowed students to put the thermometer inside of their mitten, therefore raising the temperature because their hand is releasing the heat and proving that the mitten is acting like an insulator. Another problem we have encountered is a lack of time to interview students. When reveiwing the few correct answers, we have found the the statements at the bottom are not enough to support their thinking. Many times they just restate the information that was provided in the probe. Reasons for this seem to be a lack of the English Language and a lack of scientific vocabulary .
